Stamford & District Indoor Bowls Association

Club Finals Results

PART 1 Sunday 12 April 2026

Singles title No.11 for Dolby

In the first of two days of competition to settle the 35th club championships, Stamford indoor bowlers served up some high quality play to entertain the crowd who will no doubt expect a similar standard when the second phase takes place on Sunday.

Highlight of the first day was the 11th men’s club singles title for Martyn Dolby. The 78-year-old then went on to claim the pairs with Jeff Pitt.

Against John Holroyd he trailed by eight shots but then bamboozled the Yorkshireman with a short jack strategy which steered him into a 19-11 lead before finally winning 21-16.

Against father and son Wayne and Owen Aspinall, the Dolby-Pitt combination which helped Lincs win the national seniors county title last season, won 19-12, despite Pitt’s earlier setback losing the Open sets singles to Neil Wright in a tie-break.

Wright also went on to win the Aussie pairs with Adam Warrington - a popular novel format in which players constantly alternate between lead and skip. It was a tight 18-end duel with husband and wife, Kevin and Lynn Tuck, who conceded a devastating four-count, against their experienced opponents after taking a single shot lead on the penultimate end.

It was a similar tale in a closely-contested novice triples. Family duo Phil & Freddie Knapp and Michelle Boddy trailed 12-20 against last year’s finalists Tony Ahearne and Chris & Cath Smith before claiming five & seven counts in three ends to eventually edge home 24-23.

Full marks to competition organiser Bill Orme and his team of officials, whose fears over players’ dress code proved unfounded, kept the events running smoothly with hopes of a similar level of quality on Sunday ( see below).

Men’s pairs finalists from the left Jeff Pitt, Wayne and Owen Aspinall and Martyn Dolby.

Lyn and Kevin Tuck, Neil Wright and Adam Warrington contested the Aussie pairs final

Novice triples finalists, from the left Phil and Freddie Knapp, Michelle Boddy, Cath & Chris Smith, Tony Ahearne

AGM reminder

Members are encouraged to attend the Stamford IBC annual general meeting at the club on Wednesday (April 15) at 7.30pm which includes election of officers, reports, accounts update and any new proposals,

Results

Men’s singles- J Holroyd lost to M Dolby 16-21; Open sets singles - N Wright beat J Pitt 6-8, 10-4 (1-2); novice pairs - C Smith & T Ahearne beat C & J Parker 18-12; mixed fours - J Bourne, S & B Orme, M Holroyd lost to W Morris, N Brumpton, L Harris, O Aspinall 2-22; Aussie Pairs - L & K Tuck lost to N Wright & A Warrington 18-21; men’s pairs - W & O Aspinall lost to M Dolby & J Pitt 12-19; Novice triples - P & F Knapp, M Boddy beat C & M Smith and T Ahearne 24-23; Ladies fours - M King, Y Monaghan, S Suffling, L Tuck lost to E Wallace, J Brennan, M Holroyd, C Ford 8-22; men’s fours - W Aspinall, A McNaughton, M Anderson, O Aspinall lost to T Newman-Borrett, B Martin, C Ballard, S Law 9-19.

Sunday April 19: 10 am: Over 65 Open singles - M Dolby v L Tuck; ladies singles - M Smith v S Suffling; Mixed pairs - S & L Harris v C Ford & N Wright. 1.30 pm : Ladies pairs - S Suffling & L Tuck v J Hynes & L Hulme; Mixed triples - E & M Wallace, C Ballard v J & M Holroyd, K Vinter; men’s triples- P Dalliday, M Dolby, S Law v T Smith, A McNaughton, S Harris.

Ladies fours finalists from the left, Lyn Tuck, Yvonne Monaghan, Shirley Suffling, Margaret King, Elizabeth Wallace, Chris Ford, Moira Holroyd and June Brennan

Men’s fours from the left Mike Anderson, Ally McNaughton, Wayne and Owen Aspinall, Brian Metin, Chris Ballard, Tom Newman Borrett and Simon Law.

PART 2 Sunday 19 April 2026

Dolby claims hat-trick of titles

Martyn Dolby completed a hat-trick of club titles when he beat Lyn Tuck to retain the Senior open singles at the second leg of the club finals. But with partners Paul Dalliday and Simon Law, the former policeman was beaten in the men’s triples final by Trevor Smith, Ally McNaughton and Stephen Harris.

Tuck held her own at 3-8 after seven ends but then it was all over as she failed to claim another shot in the ensuing six ends. Dolby had earlier won the men’s pairs with Jeff Pitt and the singles against John Holroyd.

It was a gruelling double Sunday of matches for competition secretary Bill Orme over successive weekends but with his helpers marking and measuring he emerged unscathed and is to be congratulated for the success under trying circumstances.

One of the closest matches was the ladies singles between Michelle Smith and Moira Holroyd which stretched to 27 ends before Holroyd conceded 21-16 after she had recovered from 2-10 adrift in the early stages.

Results: Over 65 Open singles - M Dolby beat L Tuck 21-3; ladies singles - M Smith bt M Holroyd 21-16; Mixed pairs - S & L Harris beat C Ford & N Wright 24-17; Ladies Triples - J Brennan, E Wallace, C Ford beat J Hynes, J Parker, L Hulme 18-15; Ladies pairs - S Suffling & L Tuck beat J Hynes & L Hulme 20-12; Mixed triples - E & M Wallace, C Ballard lost J & M Holroyd, K Vinter 13-20; men’s triples- P Dalliday, M Dolby, S Law lost T Smith, A McNaughton, S Harris 16-20.

Presentations of club finals and domestic leagues will be held at Stamford IBC on Saturday, April 25 (7 pm) with a buffet available. New presidents, Brigadier John Wallace OBE and Valerie Du’Kett, will also be installed to present the prizes.

Kevin Vinter

Moira Holroyd (bowling)

Stephen Harris

Harris aids Liberty trophy win for county

Lincolnshire IBA denied Essex the chance to retain the English Indoor county championship when they defeated them 115-102 in the final of the Liberty Trophy to regain the title at Nottingham on Saturday.

A rink skipped by Stamford’s Stephen Harris (front row, second from right) and which included the Lincoln trio of veteran George Draper and Sam & Richard Ashton, won 17-14 to contribute to the overall 13-shot triumph. Lincolnshire last won the trophy in 2022.

Owen Aspinall and Harris are members of the Spalding Lightning team which contests the Under 30 double rink semi-final against Solihull on Saturday.

*Chris Ballard reached the last 16 of the English indoor novice singles, for players who had never before reached that stage at Nottingham. But he was beaten 21-7 by Risbygate’s Kevin Rolfe who in turn lost by a similar score in the semi-final to Joel Roebert (Sutton) the eventual winner.

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